Rahul claims BJP 'copied Congress manifesto'

Accusing the BJP of copying his party's poll manifesto, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Thursday said its only focus seemed to be on making Narendra Modi the prime minister.

Rahul said the BJP had only replaced the hand symbol of the Congress with that of a lotus, its own symbol, to present the Grand Old Party's document as its own.

"It took us six months to prepare a manifesto. We visited people across the country and spoke with them to know what they want. On the basis of their demands and concerns, we prepared a manifesto, but all the BJP did was copy our manifesto," he said, addressing a rally in Rajasthan's Udaipur, over 400km from Jaipur.

"They then claimed that they have released their manifesto. In reality, they just copied that of the Congress," Rahul added, saying that most of the promises made in BJP's manifesto have already been fulfilled by Congress.

Congress V-P roots for Captain

By Amit Agnihotri in New Delhi

Leaving no stone unturned in its efforts to win the prestigious Amritsar Lok Sabha seat in Punjab, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi will campaign for party candidate Captain Amarinder Singh next week.

The former Punjab Chief Minister is pitted against the BJP's Arun Jaitley in a contest that has become a matter of prestige for the Congress, the BJP and the latter's ally Akali Dal.

Amarinder, considered a political heavyweight in Punjab, was initially reluctant to fight the election, but he decided to join the fray after a phone call from Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, who wanted party veterans to give a tough fight to the BJP-Akali Dal combination.

Rahul Gandhi, seen here in MP's Khandwa on Thursday, will campaign for Capt. Amarinder Singh in Amritsar next week.

A win in Amritsar could reenergise a demoralised Congress, which lost the 2012 assembly polls to the BJP-Akali Dal alliance.

For Jaitley, a win will further boost his prospects in case an NDA government comes to power at the Centre as he is considered close to Narendra Modi.

Jaitley, a key poll strategist, is also leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha.

According to party sources, Rahul's schedule is being worked out as Punjab Congress chief Partap Singh Bajwa, contesting the Gurdaspur Lok Sabha seat, wants Rahul to campaign for him.